This post is my 5th entry in this month’s A Timely Blogathon being run by Anna of Film Grimoire and myself.
Stick around to see (at least) one new entry a day from many of the talented writers who have joined us in watching and reviewing films under 90 minutes long.
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“I’d like to report a truck driver who’s been endangering my life. ” – David Mann
Number of Times Seen – 1 (7 Jul 2016)
Brief Synopsis – After passing a truck on the highway on his way home, a salesman ends up dealing with a road rage trucker hell bent on running him off the road.
Take on it – When going thru my list of films to watch in order to find ones suitable for this blogathon, I came across this film which was Steven Spielberg’s first full length film as director.
I have been meaning to watch this for months and just never got to it.
Thankfully, it fits the criteria for this blogathon so it bumped it higher up on my watch list.
This film despite being short was a great start for the world to see what a film maker like him could do.
Many of the camera shots are superbly framed and he is able to give us so much suspense and tension in spite of the fact that this film has a comparatively simple plot.
I liked the way that we are kept in suspense as to the motive and not knowing anything different, it’s easy to assume along the way that we are just dealing with a simple case of road rage.
Dennis Weaver is great as the lead here.
Bottom Line – Great start for Spielberg. The camera shots are wonderful despite the narrative being so simple. Liked the fact that the motive is kept secret so we can just assume that this is simple road rage. Weaver is great as the lead. Recommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Since filming only took about twelve days, it remains Steven Spielberg’s personal benchmark for how quickly he can shoot a film. (From IMDB)
Rating – Globe Worthy
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MovieRob 
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Reblogged this on FILM GRIMOIRE and commented:
Check out Movierob’s newest review for A Timely Blogathon – Rob reviewed Steven Spielberg’s Duel (1971), a film I’ve had on my list for quite some time.
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What a movie this was. Love it when films are based on short stories too. I think he found the original story in Playboy.
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I really enjoyed Duel. It was a very nice little thriller, largely because it was so simple. Anything more complicated may have gone off the rails. The way Spielberg shot the truck was phenomenal, too. It was never actually going all that fast. He used low angle shots to make it look like it was zooming along. That made all the difference as it made the truck much more intimidating than if it had been putt-putting down the road.
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Completely agree Dell. Tnx for stopping by and commenting!
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